On Eve of World Refugee Day, Instability Threatens Camps in Kenya and Chad

World Refugee Day, which takes place on Tuesday June 20, is dedicated to the plight of the estimated 8.4 million refugees around the world.

ATLANTA (June 19, 2006) - On the eve of World Refugee Day, CARE is warning of increased pressure on refugee camps in both Kenya and Chad due to growing instability in both regions. In particular, the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya has seen close to 3,500 new arrivals in the past three months due to conflict in Mogadishu, Somalia.

"We are mostly seeing women and children escaping the violence in Somalia, but we're also seeing an increase in the number of young men who are fleeing forced conscription," said Mohammed Qazilbash, CARE program manager for the Dadaab camp. "If the violence continues, we're going to see more and more people flood into the camps in search of safety."

CARE manages three camps in the region, housing more than 138,000 refugees. The vast majority of the refugees have fled the warfare in Somalia, but some have also come to the region from the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea and other nearby nations.

CARE is coordinating with the UNHCR and the WFP to provide food, education, psychosocial services and sanitation to the refugees in the region, but lack of support from international donors has resulted in a 20 percent cut in food provisions and other services to the refugees living at the camp.

"We believe that up to 20,000 more refugees could arrive in Dadaab from Somalia by the end of the year," said Qazilbash. "It is absolutely essential that the region is stabilized and that those who have to flee conflict are given the resources they need to survive.  The world must pay attention."

In addition to the Kenyan refugee camps, CARE is also responding to two humanitarian crises from its base in Chad. In Southern Chad, CARE supports over 12,000 refugees from the Central African Republic. In Eastern Chad, CARE manages four refugee camps, where more than 70,000 victims fleeing ethnic and political clashes in Sudan have sought refuge. CARE is providing food, clean water, psychosocial support, community services, skills training and primary education. Security in the camps is unstable, however, and without international support it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide humanitarian assistance.

"The security situation in the Chadian camps is deteriorating," says Nicolas Palanque, CARE's country director for Chad. "And if this is not addressed soon then the crisis is going to explode and become even worse."

All this is occurring against the backdrop of significant cuts to humanitarian funding for Darfur, the most dramatic example of which is the statement by the WFP that significant cut-backs in food provisions are necessary because of a lack of donor support. Even though the United States and other international donors have since announced additional aid, it is unclear whether this will enter the pipeline quickly enough to have an immediate impact.